President Arroyo pushed through with her planned visit to the wake of former President Corazon Aquino at the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros, Manila early Wednesday.

Mrs. Arroyo, fresh from her trip to the United States, had been sending out "feelers" to the Aquino family of her intention to visit the wake, despite strong opposition from the grieving family.

Mrs. Arroyo, accompanied by her image builder Lupita Kashiwahara, the late Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr.'s sister and Sen. Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III arrived at the cathedral at 3:45 am, wearing a white blouse with black trimmings and immediately went to view the flag-draped casket of Mrs. Aquino. The President viewed the casket for a few minutes, then sat on a chair on the front row of the left side of the church and had a brief chat with Noynoy.

For a few minutes, the entire cathedral, which was previously, bustling with activity, fell silent, as every eye was focused on Sen. Aquino and the President, who were seated next to each other.

When asked what they talked about, Aquino said "Palagay ko naman eh civil ang aming pakikitungo sa isa't-isa. Pasalamatan na natin... Nagtanong tungkol sa ilang detalye tungkol sa funeral mass mamaya, tsaka anong oras tutulak mamaya sa Manila Memorial."

After chatting for around five minutes, the President again stood up walked towards the casket and while in front of the casket, made the sign of the cross and left with her cabinet secretaries and Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago.

Arroyo declined to give an interview to members of the media who were inside the Manila Cathedral and left at around 3:55 am.

"Sabi nung aking tiya...hindi pala nagplano nung mga thirty minutes na magpunta rito, kaya lang nung nalaman na nahinto yung pila rito... e minabuti nang tumuloy para mapatuloy na ulit yung mga taong naghihintay sa pila."

When asked about the visit, Sen. Aquino said: "Ako'y masaya na natupad ko yung mga pangako sa dalaw kong magulang."

Explaining futher: "Dapat naman e. Dapat yung tamang asal. Siguro naman hindi ako nagkulang sa tagubilin na iyon," Aquino said.

But when asked whether there were still "ill feelings", brought about by their political differences and further infuriated by the alleged pullout of his mother's security escorts, Aquino seemed to hesitate in answering the question.

"Well...Pero...Can I leave it at that? Kung may nagpapakita ng kabutihan ng loob. Binatuhan ka ng tinapay, babatuhan mo ng bato..'Di rin naman tamayon." he said.

The past few days, the question of whether President Arroyo would visit the wake remained unanswered, drawing mixed reactions from politicians and ordinary citizens.

If Mrs. Arroyo had not visited the wake, many feel that it would have sparked further controversy, as ironically, in a touching gesture, the Aquino and the Marcoses, bitter political rivals for a very long time, seemed to have kissed and made up, after Ilocos Norte Congressman Ferdinand "Bong-bong" Marcos Jr. and his sister former solon Imee Marcos visited the wake.

A few days before the visit, former first lady Imelda Marcos had been leading prayer vigils and has also been sending out feelers that they wanted to visit former president Aquino.

Mrs. Marcos was even quoted as saying that: "Pag ang mga Marcos at Aquino ay nagkasama na ay yan ay isang napakalaking biyaya yan para sa bayan."

"The last time I saw her was four years ago." Sen. Aquino recounted, referring to PGMA. "I think we both managed to greet each other civilly," he added after being pressed on by the media to divulge futher details on his brief chat with the president.

When asked how the rest of the Aquino family felt about GMA's visit, Sen. Aquino seemed to have wittingly offered an oblique answer instead. "I did not ask them to join me. I recognize that we have all been tired, not only these past few days...We've been taking turns guarding our mother at the hospital. We have a big day tomorrow."

Probably because of the 30 minutes or so that the line was not allowed to proceed, the organizer of the wake decided to extend the public viewing.

Instead of closing the cathedral at 4 am, as scheduled, the public viewing ended at 5 am, despite much protest from those who queued for an average of three hours.

The lines extended as far as the Bureau of Immigration, circled its way through the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM) before passing the adjacent streets leading to the Manila Cathedral.

Most of those who queued just to get a mere glimpse of "Tita Cory" and pay their last respects to the icon of democracy, were already soaking wet when it was already their chance to view the casket, as it started to rain at around 11 pm and continued well into the wee hours.

Undaunted by the heavy downpour, instead of shrinking, the lines seemed to even grow longer as the 4 am deadline neared.